Investigators: Man rapes woman in orange grove

Apopka police have arrested a man accused of raping a woman in an orange grove Sunday.

James Iry Johnson, 42, denied the rape allegations as he was led to the Orange County Jail on Monday night.

Earlier Monday, police released surveillance pictures of a man they called a person of interest in a rape investigation. They say Johnson is the man who was seen at a 7-Eleven store on the corner of Apopka-Vineland Road and Clarcona Road.

The victim told police she was intoxicated and had just ended a fight with her boyfriend when she voluntarily got into a car with Johnson in the Parramore area of Orlando.

Police said the woman and Johnson, whom she did not know, drove to an orange grove in Apopka, where she said Johnson hit her on the head and raped her.

Investigators said the woman was then dropped off on Clarcona Road and called police.

Police arrested Johnson in Orlando. He did not deny being with the woman, but did deny hitting and raping her.

A judge dropped a kidnapping charged against Johnson because the woman voluntarily got into the car with him.

Johnson is a convicted sex offender and has an extensive violent criminal history, including two previous sex crimes, one of which was the molestation on a child under the age of 16. He is being held on $10,100 bond.